Your Best Tricks for Making Dish Duty Easier and More Fun

Doing the dishes falls somewhere between death and taxes in the realm of life's certainties: Whether you're eating cereal out of a bowl or making a gourmet meal, someone's going to have to clean those dishes up! So the real question is, does it have to be such a slog?

We reached out to our readers on Facebook to get their best tricks for doing the dishes faster and making the process easier — here's what you suggested.

1. Clean as you go.

"Clean as you go. Take care of the dishes as you cook and clean up behind yourself. It makes it less overwhelming." — Jean Staines

"I wash as I cook. I'm even washing pots and pans right after I plate the food sometimes. When dinner is over, all I have left are plates and flatware." —Toya Ann

"When cooking fill the sink with hot soapy water and wash as you go. It will leave you only with dinner plates and cutlery to wash." — Jen Wren

"Clean up as you cook. Don't wait until you have a huge mess to clean." — Denise Sarago

"Fill your sink or dishpan with hot-hot water and lots of detergent and as you cook, toss in the pans, utensils, etc. you are finished using. By the time you have finished eating, the pans will have soaked themselves clean and need very little effort." — Stephaney Marie Grooms

2. Harness the power of water.

"Find a dishpan that fits in your sink and fill it with soapy water. Throw things in the dishpan as you cook and wash them as you go if you have a recipe that allows a few spare moments." — Mary O'Brien

"Give EVERYTHING a quick rinse as soon as you're done using it to keep it from drying out and becoming a nuisance." — Yunus Soleman

"I keep an old plastic coffee can sitting on the sink ledge filled with soapy water to soak all silverware. It keeps residue soft and easier to clean." — Judith Hodgett

"Use your hand sprayer to rinse dishes off in the draining rack, a half dozen at a time. Much more efficient than rinsing individual pieces." — Christian Cavanaugh

"When I group all the dirty stuff (cutlery, cups, plates, cookware) it seems like I've got only got four things to do." — Iuliia Kotliar

"Do the hand wash dishes before you load the dishwasher, you're less tempted to leave them to do 'later.'" — Colleen Patterson

"I sort everything out on the counter in order of how it will stack in the drainer. I place flatware and dishes in the sink as it fills with hot, soapy water. Next are glasses and cups, followed by the coffee pot, lid, and filter. Bowls are next, then pots and pans. Once I get started, one segment follows the next, and before you know it, I'm wiping the counters and table." — Marcia Wilwerding

4. Don't let the sink be a black hole.

"I take the utensil holder out of the dishwasher and set it on the back of the sink between running the dishwasher so everyone can load it up, then I just set it in and wash." — Tricia Ryan